After “Through the Valley,” It’s Time To Acknowledge Mark Mylod as a Great Director

Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for The Last of Us Season 2.

Television is often perceived to be a “writer’s medium” rather than one for filmmakers. Directors hired for a TV series are generally asked to conform to a style that has already been established, and, as a result, sometimes have less stylistic influence on how the story is told. Although The Last of Us has employed many talented directors, Mark Mylod raises the stakes of the entire series with his incredible work directing “Through the Valley.” There was a lot of pressure surrounding the episode regarding the death of Joel (Pedro Pascal), but Mylod helps to craft an elegant tragedy that captures the sense of heartbreaking dread that had been so critical to the game.

While “Through the Valley” marks the first episode of The Last of Us that he was involved in, Mylod has a history of directing standout installments of great shows, including Game of Thrones, Succession, Shameless, and United States of Tara. He’s also taken his talents to the big screen, having directed the critically acclaimed satirical thriller The Menu, starring Ralph Fiennes and Anya Taylor-Joy. “Through the Valley” is destined to be influential because of the ways in which the status quo of The Last of Us will forever be altered; alongside writer Craig Mazin, Mylod assists in shaping an artful, disturbing, and emotionally authentic episode that embodies everything that the series does best.

“Through the Valley” Is a Brilliantly Directed Masterpiece

There was a lot of pressure on The Last of Us to successfully execute a moment of this importance, as its reputation would never have recovered had an episode with so much at stake been poorly received; widespread perception of Game of Thrones was forever changed when “The Long Night,” another episode featuring a relentless attack by an undead army, earned negative reactions from the show’s viewership. However, Mylod’s brilliant direction in “Through the Valley” creates an aura of suspense surrounding all the characters; even before Joel is captured by Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) and brutally tortured, the efforts made by Tommy (Gabriel Luna) and Maria (Rutina Wesley) to survive the onslaught in Jackson are equally gripping.

The scale with which Mylod operates is impressive in its own right, as the action sequences in “Through the Valley” are far more compelling than the vast majority of the theatrical films released this year. Nonetheless, “Through the Valley” is an intimate episode that also goes to great lengths to expand the show’s worldbuilding. The sequence of Abby only barely surviving the infected that attack her is breathtaking, and seeing that Joel is the one to save her evokes paternalistic allusions that make his fate even more tragic. The final moments, in which Tommy and the survivors are forced to execute those who were bitten in the attack, also serve as a reminder of the significant burden that comes with leadership.

Joel’s death plays out in heartbreaking fashion, as Mazin’s writing and Mylod’s direction show how he’s forced to reflect upon all of his life’s choices; while, in some ways, Joel does feel some sense of relief, as he has been ashamed of the actions he took to save Ellie’s (Bella Ramsey) life at the end of the first season, they are outmatched by the fear that he will no longer be able to protect her. The episode is equally generous to Abby, as Dever portrays a young woman who has to work herself up to commit such a distressing act of silence. The immediate impact of Joel’s death is quite startling, but Mylod’s restraint in directing the sequence makes it even more effective. The jarring final shot of Ellie, Dina (Isabela Merced), and Jesse (Young Mazino) dragging Joel’s body back to the encampment is the type of instantly iconic, poignant moment rarely seen outside of arthouse cinema.

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Mark Mylod Has an Amazing Track Record as a Director

The task of directing such a pivotal moment was one that HBO had to take very seriously, but Mylod has already proven himself thanks to his many years working on Succession. While the writing from series creator Jesse Armstrong was brilliant in its own right, Mylod was able to develop a unique editing and shooting style in which the actors could give the most authentic performances possible. This is best seen in the episode “Connor’s Wedding,” in which Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Roman (Kieran Culkin), and Shiv (Sarah Snook) are forced to react in real-time to news that their father, Logan Roy (Brian Cox), has died; like “Through the Valley,” this was a moment that changed the status quo of Succession, especially through Mylod’s sustained focus in the scenes about how the characters were processing their grief.

Although he has steadily been trusted with more pivotal moments, Mylod has a specificity to his filmmaking style that allows him to elevate the material he works with. While the Game of Thrones episodes he directed never had the same importance as “Battle of the Bastards” or “The Rains of Castamere,” he spends time that would have otherwise been considered “filler” by adding more nuance to side characters; “The Broken Man” was particularly memorable because of the powerful guest performance by Ian McShane, and “The Queen’s Justice” captured the complex political intrigue involved within the historic first meeting between Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) and Jon Snow (Kit Harington).

Mylod is responsible for bringing a cinematic quality to television, which makes it no surprise that he also has some impressive film credits on his resume. While The Menu is easily the most successful of his films to date, Mylod also doesn’t get enough credit for the black comedy The Big White and the charming rom-com What’s Your Number? Although he’s been steadily earning impressive credits for nearly three decades, “Through the Valley” serves as definitive proof that Mylod is among the best directors working today, regardless of what medium he’s working in.

The Last Of Us

Release Date

January 15, 2023

Network

HBO

Showrunner

Craig Mazin

Directors

Craig Mazin, Peter Hoar, Jeremy Webb, Ali Abbasi, Mark Mylod, Stephen Williams, Jasmila Žbanić, Liza Johnson, Nina Lopez-Corrado

Writers

Neil Druckmann, Craig Mazin